


Curate My Heart

by speccygeekgrrl



Series: MST3K Alternate Universes [2]
Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Alternate Universe - Museum, Coworkers - Freeform, F/M, THERE ISN'T EVEN AN AO3 TAG FOR IT I'M NOT CRAZY IT'S A WEIRD AU, am I capable of writing anything that isn't hurt/comfort? apparently no
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 09:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: Working at a museum for the summer isn't the most thrilling way Jonah could spend his time... until suddenly it gets interesting.





	Curate My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking AU requests on Tumblr! Give me a character/pairing and an AU premise and I'll write you fic.
> 
> This anonymous request was for Jonah and Kinga, and a museum AU. I don't think I've ever read a museum AU of anything, but I tried my best here!

As summer jobs went, working at a museum wasn’t the worst possible option. It was quiet and cool and there weren’t any classes of kids coming through on field trips. Actually, Jonah would probably have been bored out of his mind staffing the gift shop… except that every time the tour guide brought a group through the museum, the last place she brought them was the gift shop. Some days she only came in once. The most he’d seen her in one day was five times. She always looked perfectly put together, skirt suit and hair in a bun, and even though she didn’t wear glasses every time she looked at him it felt like she was doing it disapprovingly over the rims of cat-eye glasses. The day he started working there, the first time she came in, she came up to the register wearing a frown.

“Where’s Max?”

“Um…?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Jonah.”

“Hm.” She didn’t seem impressed. She also didn’t offer her name, although the gold pin above her pocket informed him that she was Kinga. “Hope you’re less annoying than the last guy.”

He never found out what had been so annoying about the last guy. He was too busy trying not to let on that he was dumb enough to develop a massive crush on her before his first week on the job was through. She was never friendly to him. The fact that she deigned to talk to him once in a while was more a sign of thawing than of actually warming up to him. 

Over eight weeks of working at the museum, Jonah managed to discover the following things about Kinga: her father was a curator, her favorite color was purple, every Friday she would buy a piece of jewelry (usually amber) from the gift shop, she was either very clumsy or just enjoyed destroying sales displays that took him a lot of time to set up, and the closest thing to a laugh he could get out of her was an exasperated huff.

The ninth week he worked there, he found out another thing about her when a museum patron ran into the shop and yelped, “Help!” It turned out that she just was very clumsy– clumsy enough to twist her ankle on the staircase despite wearing sensible flats. She was sprawled halfway down the flight, just managing to sit upright when Jonah came running. She blinked back tears and frowned at him.

“Need a hand?” 

“No,” she said, reaching for the hand rail and pulling herself up to her feet. She hesitantly put her left foot down and bit back a cry of pain. “…yes.”

His initial thought had been to offer a shoulder to help her walk, but he towered over her and that just wasn’t going to work well at all. “Do you mind if I pick you up?”

“What? Yes I mind!” She turned red.

“Because that would really be the easiest thing.”

“What are you, a caveman? No you can’t pick me up!”

“Oh, come on, I don’t look that unevolved, do I?” 

“Like a Neanderthal,” she said. “Trying to throw me over your shoulder.”

“I would never,” he said, offended. “Although you’d probably object to a bridal carry too.” Her brows arched, and then she rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, just get me off these stairs.” He swept her up into his arms and she squeaked involuntarily, one arm coming around his neck. “Oh, jeez, what are you, seven feet tall? I’m getting dizzy up here.”

“Enjoy the rarefied atmosphere while you can,” he said cheerfully. She weighed practically nothing, and the scent of her perfume was intoxicating from this close. The nearest chair was the one behind the register in the gift shop. He set her down gently and smiled at her, and she huffed and scowled at him. The rest of her tour group filtered into the gift shop, but he didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Thanks,” she said grudgingly.

“No problem,” he said. “How bad’s your ankle?”

“Probably need to take it to urgent care,” she sighed. “No more tours today, that’s for sure.”

“It’s the end of the day anyways,” he pointed out. “Want a ride to the clinic?” For a moment she stared up at him suspiciously, and then she shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

One month left at this summer job. Jonah had a feeling that things were just starting to get interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> http://thylakhaleesi.tumblr.com/ask
> 
> Prompt me!


End file.
